


Crumbling of the Freedom Trail

by tearoseglasses



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:48:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26049055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tearoseglasses/pseuds/tearoseglasses
Summary: Short about an escaped synth.!Warning for those sensitive to deaths that strongly resemble suicide by falling, do not read this!
Kudos: 2





	Crumbling of the Freedom Trail

“ _ A new one?” _

_ “Yes. Its right eye isn’t quite working right.” _

_ “Hmm. Anything else?” _

_ “It doesn’t speak much at all.” _

_ “That’s normal. They don’t talk like me or you.” _

_ “Hmm.” _

He opens his eyes. Another dream. Terrible dreams. He clambers out of his hammock, looking out a dirty window. It looks like a storm could come. Good. They need to start farming. The rain’ll make it easier to loosen up the dirt. He needs to head into the city. They need supplies from Diamond. 

He throws a bag over his shoulder, picking up a gun from the corner. The sun blinds him for a moment as he walks out.

“Off to Diamond?”

“Yeah. I’ll be back by the end of the day.”

“Remember to grab some of those newspapers.”

“I will.” He steps out of the settlement and on to an old road. Just follow it for a few miles, then you hit the city, then Diamond. It’s just a matter of not being blown up on the way there. But he had a knack for seeing mines.

A vertibird flies overhead. Loud bastards. They came so suddenly too. Announcing themselves like they owned the place.

He cringes slightly as his ear begins ringing. It always happened right about here on the road. Outside of Cambridge. Never bothered anyone else. Just him. But it fades out once he’s closer to the bridge. He crosses carefully. No need to drown. Absolutely no need. 

Signs for Diamond start showing up more and more.

He nods to a few patrolling guards. They nod back. He stops in front of the closed gate. It slowly pulls open and he steps in. Diamond City. The Great Green Jewel of the Commonwealth. 

“I’m telling you. More and more people are finding synths. They’re everywhere.”

Synths. Of course the near-perfect human copies from the elusive Institute. He walks past the two and back to one of the many supply shops. Screws, seeds, and patches, among other things, are all he needs this time. Which is nice. He doesn’t have to lug a bunch back. 

He walks over to a girl sitting in a small, scrappily made, booth with a rather large pile of papers next to her. 

“How are the paper sales, Nat?”

“As good as ever. But that Vault Dweller that Piper interviewed a few months back? She’s brought in a lot more than a bit of dust. It’s helping. People are interested.”

“Yeah? I suppose I can read all about it in the paper?”

“Yessir. The same amount as always?”

“One more. We had someone show up a week back. They’re staying.”

“One cap each… so 10 caps.”

“One cap?”

“Piper says you buy enough to get a ‘loyalty discount’.”

“That’s very nice of her.” He pulls 10 caps from his pocket, taking the papers from Nat as she takes the caps from him. “Stay safe, Nat.”

“I will! You’re the one who lives in the forest.”

He tucks the papers in his bag and walks out of the settlement and into the city. He walks along the guarded road. The sun is just past the middle of the sky. He’s making good time today. He looks up at one building, a white drawing catching his eyes. It looks familiar. A lantern?

_ “We’re taking you to Goodneighbor. They’ll give you new memories. You’ll be okay.” _

_ “They won’t find me?” _

_ “No. But first, we need you to tell us everything you know.” _

_ “About Coursers?” _

_ “Yes.” _

__ A Courser? What is that?

Gunshots echo in the distance. He looks behind him. Supermutants. They haven’t seen him yet. He turns back to the building. It has a ladder. He climbs up in the best he can, throwing himself over the ledge just as one of the mutants looks his way. He stands up, looking around at the flat building top. There’s a hole with stairs to the far right of him. And nothing else. It looks like people have been up here, but not for a long time. He walks around the perimeter. Nothing. No other ladders or stairs. 

“Z5-76. Finally. It took us long enough to find you.”

He turns around. A man and a woman are standing a mere 10 feet away from him. He takes a step back, hitting the concrete wall around the edge of the roof.

“Who are you?!” He fumbles, pulling his gun up. The man looks too serious and the woman too familiar. The… The Vault Dweller?

"X6, don't you think we should-"

“Z5-76, initialize factory reset. Authorization alpha-8-4--”

He fires the gun at the man, the jerk from it sending his torso backward. His feet slip.

“-Rho.”

“NO!”

-

“Z5-76? Can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Be more careful next time. Too much damage and one day you just won’t wake up. This was already so close. Falling off a building, you’re not meant to be clumsy.”

“It won’t happen again.”

“Good. You're free to go. If you notice anything else, come back."

"Yes, Ma'am." Z5 walks out of the workshop. A woman looks down at him from one of the rooms high above him. An older man - Father - appears at her side. He appears to say something, to which she looks at him and walks away. 


End file.
